1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to apparatus for selective precision metering of materials such as ground coffee and other fungible or granular material and its method of manufacture, and more particularly the invention is directed to apparatus for precision metering selected amounts of granular material such as coffee in which the apparatus consists of a frame, a hopper supported by and removable from the frame having a large upper storage area and communciating with a small lower vertically oriented exiting trough, horizontal sliding plate extending below a forward lip of the exiting trough, a horizontal sliding plate having an edge contacting the extended rear lip and for moving the plate to traverse the rear lip during metering of the granular material, receptacle means securably and disengageably attached on an under side of the horizontal sliding plate, and the horizontal sliding plate cooperating with the rear lip during traverse of the horizontal sliding plate for filling the receptacle means by the rear lip causing the metering of the granular material on the sliding plate to dump into the receptacle means.
The foodservice industry nationwide presently depends in a large part for its coffee requirements on delivery to outlets of premeasured, pre-packed bags of coffee. The reason coffee is delivered in this manner is to assure the outlet a potential of it preparing a cup of coffee of consistent strength, not varying with whoever makes it. While it serves this purpose splendidly, it does so at a high cost. By means of the present invention a simple piece of apparatus having a hopper, placement of bulk ground coffee is accepted in the hopper and with an action caused by placing a brewpan under the machine, an exact, measured amount of coffee ranging from 0.9 ounces (25.2 g) to 3.25 ounces (91.0 g) will be dispensed into the brewpan. Briefly the machine works so the brewpan engages the equipment, it will empty a previously measured amount of coffee into it. It does this by coming out the open end of a box under the hopper. As the loaded brewpan is removed from the dispenser, coffee is laid in the bottom of the box for the next use. This is done by allowing coffee to fall from the hopper into the box. The measurement is based on the distance of the discharge opening of the hopper to the bottom of the box. The amount of coffee dispensed may vary by changing the setting of the distance of the hopper discharge to the box.
In essence, then, with the aid of the apparatus of the present invention for selectively with precision metering of granular or fungible goods such as ground coffee, one now can purchase ground coffee in bulk for a particular food service operation instead of in premeasured, individual bags at savings of 20% to 30% to the operation with no loss of convenience or quality. With thousands of restaurants, institutions and the like where coffee purchases exceed $1,000 monthly and more, tremendous savings can be realized.
2. Description of the Prior art
Various prior art devices for making pre-packed bags, and the like, as well as apparatus and method of their construction in general, are found to be known and exemplary of the prior art are those devices for preparing coffee packaging and delivery of premeasured, pre-packed bags which are individually used to make one pot of coffee and that deliver in this manner an assurance to an outlet user a consistent strength of a cup of coffee, not varying with whoever makes it.
These known prior uses teach and disclose various types of measurement devices of sorts and of various manufactures and the like as well as methods of their construction, but none of them whether taken singly or in combination disclose the specific details of the combination of the invention in such a way as to bear upon the claims of the present invention.